Hair curling device



June 18, 1946. TQRQ 2,402,470

HAIR CURLING DEVICE Filed Sept. 7. 1944 INVENTOR. Lou/s TORO Patented June 18, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAIR CURLING DEVICE Louis Toro, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Sylvia Toro, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 7, 1944, Serial No. 553,018

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hair curling device.

The device is particularly adapted to be used in Croquignole waving wherein a broad, fiat strand of hair is spirally wound about a mandrel from the tip of the strand inwardly towards the scalp, successive convolutions of the strand overlying one another. Although the device can be used in conjunction with any of the well-known Croquignole waving methods, the illustrated embodiment is specially designed to impart a Croquignole cold wave.

The term cold waving as used herein denotes a process in which the hair is wet with a solution before or after being wound on a curling device. The wet hair is left on the curler for a period of time, which may be short or long-depending upon the nature of the solution. No heat is supplied by devices such as electric heaters, exothermic chemicals, storage heaters, or the like, during this period or, as a matter of fact, during the entire cold waving process. At the end of the period the hair is rinsed before or after unwinding from the curling device. A fixative may or ma not be applied before or after the hair is unwound, it being a characteristic of the process that the wound hair is permanently curled after having been left to stand for a sufiiciently long period of time while impregnated with the cold waving solution, sothat it is only necessary for the solution to be washed oil or neutralized in order that the solution may not permanently straighten the hair after the curlers have been removed and the hair combed out.

In ordinary Croquignole waving, wherein heat is applied from an external source such as aforementioned, it is customary to wind the hair spirally on a curling device under considerable tension, this having been found to be necessary properly to permanently wave the hair. On the other hand, in cold waving, if the same degree of tension is employed, the resulting Wave is too tight and is generally unsatisfactory.

However, most commercial Croquignole curling devices are of such nature that an operator auto-' matically tensions the wound hair to a considerable degree. Furthermore, operators, a a rule, are so accustomed to tensioning the hair ap preciably during winding that, even when instructed to employ very little tension in the cold waving process, they proceed, nevertheless, to use too much tension. As will be appreciated, this has caused much trouble in applying cold waves.

Another difliculty with present-day hair curlers is that their clamps, jaws, gripping fingers, or the like, which are permanently attached to the 2 curler mandrel for gripping the tip of a strand, cover the ends of the hair shafts and/or compress the same to such an extent that the cold waving solution cannot wet these ends properly and they are, therefore, not permanently waved.

Attempts have been made to alleviate this latter drawback by using a curler in which no means is provided for holding down the end of a strand. When winding hair on such a curler, the end of a strand is manually tucked under a subsequent convolution of hair. In this procedure, because the position of the end of the strand is not closely and continually controlled, the tips of some of the hair shafts'fold backand others go awry so that the ends of the curled hair present an unsig'htly appearance.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a hair curling device which obviates the foregoing drawbacks in the permanent Croquignole cold waving of hair.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a Croquignole hair curling device b means of which the tip of a strand of hair is properly laid against the body of the curler but not pressed mechanically thereagainst after wind mg.

A further object of the invention is to provide a curler of the character described for Croquignole cold waving, which can limit the maximum tension applicable during a predetermined portion of the winding operation to thatwhich should be applied for properly imparting a permanent cold wave.

An additionalobject of the invention is to pro vide a curler of the character described which comprises relatively few and. simple parts, and is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is an exploded, partially fragmentary, perspective view of a curling device embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken Substantially along the line 2-2- of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3,- 5, 7 and 9 are diagrammati views showing the use of my novel hair curling device during the process of winding hair in accordance with my improved method;

Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10 are sectional views taken substantially along the lines 4-4, 6-45, 8-3 and Ill-l of Figs. 3, 5, 7 and 9, respectively; and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing my hair curling device in position on the head after a curl has been fully wound.

Essentially, I carry out my invention by providing a curler having a mandrel of any desired shape and construction and on which hair is adapted to be wound in accordance with the basic Croquignole method. Means also is provided for temporarily holding the tip of a strand of hair against the mandrel. This means is adapted to be detached or separated from the,

mandrel after a few turns of hair are wound about the mandrel. When said temporary holding means is removed, there is no mechanism left for holding the tip of the strand against the mandrel. However, the operator at this time pulls the mandrel away from the head, thus tightening the few turns of the strand already wound on the mandrel. Such action causes the end of the strand to be jammed between the mandrel and the overlying convolution of hair and be firmly held in place. From this point on the hair can be wound up on the mandrel towards the scalp in conventional fashion. It may be noted that the number of turns given to the mandrel before the temporary holding means is removed will vary with the type of hair being wound. Thus, stiffer or coarser hair will require a greater number of turns of the mandrel before removal of said means than will finer or silkier hair which will bind more easily. For convenience, in describing the foregoing operation, the term hitching as hereinafter employed in the specification and claims, will be understood to denote an action'wherein the end of a strand of hair is passed more than one time about a mandrel, so that when the mandrel subsequently is pulled away from the scalp, the end of the strand will jam between the mandrel and the overlying convolution of the strand. The term few turns denotes one and one-half or more turns.

It may be mentioned that, when winding hair about a mandrel in accordance with the foregoing process, the less the number of times the end of the hair is turned about the mandrel before the hair is tensioned after removal of the temporary holding means, the less the strand can be tensioned without the end thereof slipping off the mandrel. This feature can be effectively employed to control the tension. Thus, an operator can be instructed when working on a particular type of hair-for instance, stiif or coarse hairto turn the mandrel twice before removing the temporary holding device, and to then tension the strand to a certain degree. If the operator tensions the strand beyond this degree, the tip of the hair will simply slide off the mandrel. In this manner I have provided a control for preventing an operator from applying too much tension to a strand of hair at a given point of the winding operation. Obviously, if properly instructed, the operator will not increase this tension during the remainder of the winding operation.

Although in the preferred practice of my invention the temporary holding means is removed before winding is complete, it will be understood that the invention also contemplates removal of said means at a later stage or even after winding is finished, particularly if the curling device is not used in conjunction with Croquignole cold waving, if the operator can control tension properly without removing said means early in winding, or if the cold waving process is modified to require greater tension.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1, I have there shown a curling device embodying my invention and including an elongated mandrel '20 whose curling surface is in general of conventional configuration having, for example, the contour of a hyperboloid of revolution. This type of curling surface is more or less standard for curlers. Cylindrical portions 2| are provided at both ends of the curling surface. Said mandrel may be made out of any type of material usable with the specific Croquignole method of waving with which it is to be employed. Thus, if the mandrel is to be used with an external heating devicefor instance, an electric heater-said mandrel may be made of metal, e. g. aluminum, being either hollow or solid, depending upon manufacturing design. The mandrel might also have a cavity in which a heater could be placed or in which exothermic chemicals could be packed. If the mandrel, as is the case here, is to be used in the cold waving process, it is desirable to make the same from a substance which will not be attacked by the cold waving solution or solutions. I have found that two types of material are satisfactory for use in conjunction with cold waving, these being wood or a synthetic plastic. Of these, I prefer to employ wood.

The mandrel diifers in external configuration from a conventional mandrel, in that it is provided with a longitudinal groove 22 having one end 24 extending to an end of the mandrel 20, so that the groove may be said to be open at one end. The other end of the groove terminates in a bore 26 coaxial with the groove, so that this end of the groove may be said to be closed. The bore does not extend completely through the end of the mandrel in which it is disposed, although this does not have any bearing upon the operation of the curler.

Means is provided at the end of the mandrel adjacent the open end 24 of the groove 22 for locating on the mandrel a hair-holding means, later to be described. Such locating means conveniently may be either in the form of an axial bore (not shown) or a coaxial stub pin 28. Said pin and the groove 22 together form a means for detachably securing said hair-holding means in place on the mandrel.

Means may also be provided to retain the hair on the mandrel after winding. Various conventional means of this type are well known to the art and the same may comprise a bail pivotally or flexibly, permanently secured to one end of the mandrel and detachably attachable to the other end thereof, the bail being so constructed that a portion thereof will press against the external surface of a curl of hair wound on the mandrel. In the instant embodiment of the invention, said curl-holding means comprises a strap 30 of resilient material such as rubber, having an enlarged ear 32, 34 at each end thereof. The ear 32 has an aperture (not shown) which freely receives the shank 35 of a wooden pin which is permanently and rigidly fixed in a bore (not shown) at the end of the mandrel adjacent the closed end 26 of the groove 22. The free end 38 of the pin is enlarged whereby to captively hold the strap 30 between said enlarged end and the body of the mandrel in such manner as to permit the strap 30 to freely rotate about the shank 36 of the pin. The other ear 34 of the strap has an aperture 40, which is adapted to receive the pin 28 at a certain stage during the operation of the curler.

Hair curling mandrels such as described are furnished in sets for use in making a plurality of curls on a human head in accordance with the Croquignole method. With each set of mandrels I provide at least one auxiliary device comprising a means for holding the tip of a broad, flat strand of hair against the mandrel 2G, and a handle or the like for facilitating manipulation of the foregoing means and of a mandrel. Said auxiliary device may also be provided with means forming part of the handle and/or tip holding means, which means is adapted to cooperate with coadjuting means on the mandrel to detachably secure the tip holding means to the mandrel and permit the tip holding means to be withdrawn axially from the mandrel after a few or more turns of a strand of hair have been wound thereon without disturbing the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel.

In the instant embodiment of the invention, said auxiliary deviceisin the form of a cylindrical elongated solid wooden handle 42 which, for esthet'ic purposes, may have the same external diameter as a cylindrical end portion 2! of the mandrel. One end of the handle 42 is provided with a coaxial bore 44 in which the pin 28 is adapted to be received. At the same end the handle" 42 carries a' slender elongated substantially rigid bar 46 which, for the purpose of strength, may be made of a plastic material, for example, polymerized methyl methacrylite. Said bar is eccentrically disposed, its axis being radially oifset from the longitudinal axis of the handle 42 a distance equal to or slightly greater than the amount the groove 22 is radially offset from the longitudinal axis of the mandrel 20.

The tip 48 of the bar is tapered to a rounded point to facilitate its entry, as will soon be described, into the bore 26 or closed end of the groove 22.

The length of the bar from its pointed tip to where it is secured in the holder 42 is slightly 1ess than the length of the groove from its open end 24 to the base of the bore 26 and is at least greater than the length of the groove from the open end 24 to the mouth of the bore 26.

The apparatus is used as follows: A tress of hair is combed out, in a manner well known in the art, to form a broad, flat strand 50 (Figs. 3, 5, 7 and 9) having an uneven tip 52. The mandrel 20, held in one hand, is placed beneath the strand adjacent the tip 52 and running perpendicularly across the individual hair shafts. The mandrel is so disposed that the groove 22 faces upwardly and is immediately beneath the hair shafts. The resilient strap 30 is permitted to dangle freely. The auxiliary device is heldin the other hand at the side of the mandrel on which the stub pin 28 is located. At this time the mandrel, auxiliary device and hair strand have the relative positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Next, the bar 45 is placed over the ends of the hair shafts in the strand 5!] and directly over the groove 22. The bar is slightly inclined to depress the tip 68 which is then thrust into the mouth of the bore 26. Simultaneously, the bore 44 is lined up with the stub pin 28 and the bar thrust as far as it can go into the bore 26, movement thereof being limited either by abutment of the pointed tip against the bottom of the bore 26, by abutment of the tip of the pin 28 against the bottom of the bore 44, and, preferably, by abutment of the end surface of the mandrel 20 surrounding. the pin 28 against the end surface of the handle 42 having the bore 44. The relative position of the parts and strand at such time is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The bar 45 is now lightly binding the ends of many of the hair shafts in the strand in the groove 22 of the mandrel 20. It will be seen that inthis position the mandrel 2t and curler 42 are temporarily locked together for simultaneous rotation.

Next, the mandrel 20 and handle 42 are turned together to partially, spirally wind the strand 50 of hair upon the mandrel, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This represents the initial few turns of windin earlier referred to. The number of initial turns may range from one and one-half to two and one-half or even four, depending upon the texture, diameter and quality of the hair shafts and the amount of tension it is desired to place the strand under during winding, as will be appreciated later.

After these initial turns have been taken, the auxiliary device is axially withdrawn from the mandrel 20 to disengage the bar 46 from the groove 22. There is now no mechanical element holding the tip 52 of the strand against the mandrel. However, the operator next pulls the mandrel away from the scalp. If sufiicient turns of the strand have already been wound around the mandrel, this action will merely hitch the strand to the mandrel, i. e., cause the convoluted portion of the hair to tighten about the mandrel and jam the tip against said mandrel, thus effectively holding the tip from slipping. In the tightening process, the tip may slip slightly, as indicated in Fig. 10.

It will be found that, if a predetermined number of turns are taken, the tension imparted to the hair during winding will be regulated automatically. For example, let it be assumed that with a specific type of hair it is known in advance that the initial number of turns should be one and one-half. The operator when winding such hair takes an initial one and. one-half turns before withdrawing the bar 46. The operator then pulls the mandrel away from the head. If the operator pulls too hard, the ends of the strand will simply unwind from the mandrel. Experience will quickly teach the operator the amount of tension under which the hair can safely be placed without disengaging the strand from the mandrel. However, this amount of tension has previously been determined to be the limit of the tension under which it is desired to place such hair during cold waving. Once the operator has started winding the hair with this amount of tension, the remainder of the winding will be carried out automatically under the same tension.

After the strand of hair is fully wound on the mandrel, the resilient strap is stretched over the wound curl and the aperture 40 slipped over the pin 28, as shown in Fig. 11, to hold the curl in position during working of the cold waving solution, which may be applied to the strand before or after curling.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a hair curling device which achieves the several objects of my invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A hair curling device comprising an elongated mandrel having a groove running parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof and disposed on the outer lateral surface of the mandrel, an element disposed above said groove at one end thereof, an elongated member adapted to be received in said groove and hold therein the tip of a strand of hair, an end of said member being disposed beneath said element, and means to detachably attach the other end of said member to said mandrel, said means being so constructed and arranged that said member can be withdrawn axially from said mandrel after at least part of the strand of hair has been spirally convoluted about the mandrel over said tip whereby removal of said member will not disturb the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel.

2. An elongated mandrel having an elongated groove running parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof and disposed in the outer lateral surface of the mandrel, said groove terminating in a bore at one end and being open at the other end, an elongated member adapted to be received in said groove with one end thereof disposed in said bore, and means to detachably secure the other end of the member to said mandrel so that said member and mandrel will rotate together and said member can be withdrawn axially of the mandrel after a strand of hair has been at least partially spirally convoluted around the mandrel over the tip of the strand, said member being adapted to hold said tip between itself and said groove, said means being rendered ineffective by withdrawal of said member axially of said mandrel, whereby said member may be withdrawn from the convoluted strand without disturbing the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel.

3. A hair curling device comprising an elongated mandrel member having a groove runnin parallel to the longitudinal axis of the mandrel member and disposed on the outer lateral surface thereof, said groove terminating in a coaxial bore at one end and extending to the end of the mandrel member at the other end, whereby said other end of the groove is open at an end of the mandrel member, an elongated bar adapted to lie in said groove with one end thereof disposed in said bore, and a handle membercarrying the other end of said'bar, one of said members having an aperture and the other a pin adapted to be received therein when the bar is disposed in the groove, so that said members may rotate together to spirally convolute a strand of hair about the mandrel member, the tip of the strand of hair being adapted to be caught between the bar and the groove in the mandrel member, whereby the bar may be withdravm axially from th mandrel member after at least part of the strand of hair has been spirally convoluted about the mandrel over the tip of the strand without disturbing the convoluted form of strand remaining on the mandrel member.

4. A Croquignole hair curling device comprising an elongated mandrel, an elongated member, an indentation on the surface of said mandrel adapted to receive at least a portion of the elongated member, means cooperating with said indentation to wholly encircle at least a portion of said member adjacent an end thereof and thereby prevent rotation of said member around the longitudinal axis of said mandrel, and means to detachably secure the other end of said elongated member to said mandrel with said elongated member disposed at a side thereof so as to hold the tip of a strand of hair between said member and mandrel, said means being so constructed and arranged that said member can be withdrawn axially from said mandrel after at least a part of the strand of hair has been spirally convoluted around the mandrel over said tip, whereby removal of said member will not disturb the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel.

5. A Croquignole hair curling device comprising an elongated mandrel, an elongated member, an indentation on the surface of said mandrel adapted to receive at least a portion of the elongated member and prevent rotation of said member around the longitudinal axis of said mandrel, and pin-and-socket means to detachably secure said elongated member to said mandrel with said elongated member disposed at a side thereof so as to hold the tip of a strand of hair between said member and mandrel, said means being so constructed and arranged that said member can be withdrawn axially from said mandrel after at least a part of the strand of hair has been spirally convoluted around the mandrel over said tip, whereby removal of said member will not disturb the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel.

6. A Croquignole hair curling device comprising an elongated mandrel, an elongated member, an indentation on the surface of said mandrel adapted to receive at least a portion of the elongated member and prevent rotation of said member around the longitudinal axis of said mandrel, and means to detachably secure said elongated member to said mandrel with said elongated member disposed at a side thereof so as to hold the tip of a strand of hair between said member and mandrel, said mean being so constructed and arranged that said member can be withdrawn axially from said mandrel after at least a part of the strand of hair has been spirally convoluted around the mandrel over said tip, whereby removal of said member will not disturb the convoluted form of the strand remaining on the mandrel, said detachable securing means comprising a socket at an end of the mandrel and a pin carried by said member and adapted to be received in said socket.

LOUIS TORO. 

